farmer



(No Model.) 3 Sheets--Sheet 1.

J. M. FARMER.

ROTARY ENGINE.

m Q Apr. 22, 1890. Hillml Illllllli 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.`

- (No Model.)

J. M. FARMER. ROTARY ENGINE.

Patented Apr. 22, 1890.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. J. M. FARMER. ROTARY ENGINE.

Patented Apr. 22', 1890. Y i E UNTTE STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JULIUS M. FARMER, OF MILVAUKEE, VISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO TI'IE INIIIVAUKEE ROTATING ENGINE COMPANY,

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 426,003, dated April 22, 1890.

Application tiled May 2l, 1889.

To @ZZ whom, t may concern.-

Be it known that I, JULIUs M. FARMER, of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee, and in the State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to that description of Irotary engines set forth in Letters Patent No. $94,684:, issued December 1S, 1888, and in application for Letters Patent filed January 2G, 1889, Serial No. 297,722, said invention consisting in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts to be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequentlypclaimed.

In the drawings, Figure l represents a longitudinal vertical section of a rotary engine constructed according to my invention, the section being taken on line l I, Figs. 2 and 4; Fig. 2, an elevation of the rear side of Va cylinder-carrying disk that forms part of the engine, said disk being partly broken away for the purpose of better illustration; Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section on line 3 3 of Fig. l; Fig. 4, an elevation of the front side of the cylinder-carrying disk; Fig. 5, a detail elevation partly broken away to illustrate the construction of a valve that constitutes part of myinvention; Fig. (i, a vertical transverse section on line 6 G, Fin'. f); Fig. 7, a detail elevation of the valve, the view being taken from the side opposite that shown in Fig. 5, Fig. 8, a detail elevation of the hub of the cylindercarrying disk, and Fig. 9 a horizontal section on line 9 9 of Fig. 1.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A represents the engine-frame, in which is mounted a drive-shaft B, the latter being shown as provided with a coupling C for connection with a system of shafting or other suitable gear for transmitting the rotary motion of said driveshaft. Keyed or otherwise rigidly secured to the front end of the drive-shaft is a disk. D, carrying cylinders E E and F F', said disk being also provided with interior channels l) ZJ and c c, arranged in pairs, the latter channels being at right angles to the former,

Serial No. 311,518. (No model.)

said channels communicating with the cylinders as follows: In one position of the disk D the channel b forms the passage for admission of live steam to the cylinders E E', and the channel h the passage for exhaust-steam from said cylinders; but when said disk has made a half-revolution the latter channel becomes the live-steam passage and the former channel the passage for exhaust-steam, while at the same time the channels c c are similarly arranged with relation to the cylinders F F.

Arranged to operate in t-he cylinders E E are pistons G G', and pist-ons II II operate in the cylinders F F. The pistons G G have their rods connected to a slotted cross-head I, that reciprocates in a frame J, the latter being rigidly connected to the disk D, and the pistons II II have their rods connected to a slotted cross-head K, that also reciprocates in said frame, these cross-heads being at right angles to each other and to their respective piston-rods, while t-he cylinders are so arranged that those in eachl pair are diametrically opposite each other and at right angles to those in the other pair, as is best illustrated in Fig. t. The slotted cross-heads I K work on a block L, loose on a pin M, the latter being rigidly secured to an arm A of the engine-frame and arranged eccentric to the center of the disk D, this construction being best illustrated in Figs. I and et.

The parts thusfar described (excepting the inner bearing for the shaft B, the coupling C, frame J, and certain details in connection with the block L and pin M) are similar to what has been set forth inthe patent. and application above named, and consequently a more minute description of their peculiar construction and arrangement is not deemed necessary in this case.

The pin M is provided with a central chan nel e, having a branch c', that connects with an oil-cup N, the latter being secured to the engine-frame, and said pin is also provided with channels f g, that intercept the one e at right angles, this construction being best illustrated in Fig. l. The loose block L is provided with openings h relative to the channel f in the pin M, and also with openingst relal tive to the channel g in said pin. By the construction just described the openings h 1l in the loose block L come in and out of register with the channels f g in the pin M, and thus the .surfaces on which the cross-heads I K travel are supplied with oil at regular intervals and ink ysuch quantity only as is necessary to a proper lubrication, thereby preventing waste, one filling of the cup N being sufficient to supply lubricant for a certain number of hours, according to the dimensions of said cup.

Leading through the hub of the disk D are ports j j 7c 7a', that respectively communicate with the channels b b c c in said disk, the ports being arranged on a circle at equal distances vapart to successively register with the inlet-port o and outlet-port p in a circular valve, the latter being arranged to turn on the shaft B by means of a lever O.

The disk-hub is held tight against the valve by means of a spring P, arranged on the shaft B and compressed between the engine-frame and a fixed collar Q on said shaft, a washer R being preferably interposed between said spring and engine-frame, this latter construction and arrangement of parts being similar to that shown and described in the patent and application above named.

The circular valve is composed of a flanged plate S, preferably in one piece with the lever O, an elastic packing-ring T, and a face-plate U, said packing-ring and face-plate being re-` tained on said flanged plate by means of bentover lugs q, as shown in Fig. 5, or other suitable means. As best illustrated in Figs. 5, 7, and 9, the inlet-port o of the valve is provided with leads yy', that extend in opposite directions on each side of said port a distance approximately' equal to that between two of the disk-ports, the purpose of these leads being to insure of the engine taking sufficient steam to effect a start the instant said inlet-port of the valve is opened, regardless of the position of said disk-ports with relation thereto.

The inner bearing for the shaft B is made in two sections, the upper section V being recessed to form a chest for live steam admitted through a pipe WV, this chest being provided with a central bridge s, that divides it into two parallel passages t t', united by a cross-passage u, as is best illustrated in Fig. 9. The lower section V of the inner bearing for shaft B is provided with a recess that registers with the outlet-port p in the valve above described, and leading from said recess is a spout w for the escape of exhaust-steam, and, as shown in Fig. 3, this spout may be coupled to a pipe in order to carry said exhaust-steam to a convenient point of discharge.

Cast with or otherwise rigidly secured to the upper section V of the inner bearing for the shaft B is a segment X, provided at intervals with notches for engagement with a springdog Y, connected to the lever O, and by this mechanism the valve may be locked in any position to which it is adjusted, this valve being h eld tight against said bearing by the draw on the shaft occasioned bythe spring P, as above described.

In the operation of the engine we will assume that the latter is dead, the valve-lever being in its vertical position and the diskport j in line with the inlet-port o of the valve and the bridge s in the steam-chest. Now, if the valve-lever be moved toward the left to open the valve, steam will be admitted through the lead y into the disk-port k to find its way through the channel c into the cylinders F F', the pistons in these cylinders being on the half-stroke, and the pistons in the cylinders E E are at the finish of their stroke. The cylinders F F being off center, the engine starts up in the proper direction, and such steam as enters through the disk-port j from y the inlet-opening of the valve will find its way through the channel o into the cylinders E E and begin to act when the latter have passed the center on which they stood. As the disk-port k passes the lead y', it will take a small amount of steam in opposition to the movement of the engine; but at this time the pistons G G will be on their stroke, and the leverage is so great that no appreciable resistance is offered by the steam taken from said lead. As the Amotion ot' the engine continues, each disk-port will take some steam from the lead yf; but for the reason above described no apparent resistance will result. Should the engine be stopped so that diskports stood on opposite sides of t-he inlet-port lOO of the valve and the latter be opened in either y direction, one of the leads y g/"Would come into register with a disk-port corresponding to a-pair of cylinders inwhich the pistons were on stroke opposite to that now desired, and consequently the disk D would move in the wrong direction, this movement being very slight, because the disk-port that will next take steam is one corresponding to the cylinders having their pistons on stroke in the proper direction, the latter disk-port get-l ting its steam direct from the inlet-opening in the valve in such quantity as to overcome what has been taken by the former disk-port, and the engine then runs in the proper direction, the disk-ports successively taking full steam as they come into register with said inlet-opening of the valve. As the disk revolves in either direction, each diskport is successively cut off prior to the time the pistons in the relative cylinders have finished their stroke; but by expansion of the steam admitted to said cylinders the stroke is completed, and by the time the next disk-port is in register with the inlet-port of the valve the disk will have made a quarter-revolution and another pair of cylinders will be taking steam. As the rotation of the disk continues, the cylinders that rst took steam will exhaust, and it is obvious that this exhaust takes place through the salne channel and disk-port by which live steam was admitted,

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the position of the cylinders being reverse to that at which they started.

The operation just described has a tendency to cant the disk at various points of its revolution, and to obtain a tight joint between the disk-hub and the valve is one ot the main objects of the peculiar construction of the valve above described, it being evident that when the elastic packing-ring T is compressed at one point by the thrust of the steam on the cylinderheads the diametrica-lly -opposite point of said packing-ring expands to compensate for said contraction, the tace-plate U is forced tight against the disk-hub, and the flanged plate S is likewise held tight againstthe inner bearing of the shaft B, that carries said disk andl derives its motion from the latter, it being obvious that the force of the spring P will be sufficient to cause the packing-ring to remain steam-tight at the point where expansion of said ring takes place, thereby obtaining` an absolutely steam-tight joint between the inner shaftbearing and the disk-hub.

The exhaust from a diskport being' cutoff prior to the time the pistons in the relative cylinders have finished their stroke, there is a compression within the cylinders during the remainder of said stroke. This compression acts as a cushion and extends back through the exhaust-channel and disk-port leadingthereto. Consequentlywhensaiddiskport reaches the inlet-opening in the valve the force et the incoming steam meets said cushion and is immediately applied upon the relative pistons to start the latter upon their new stroke.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In. a rotary engine, the' combination of a disk secured to a main driving-shaft and carrying two or more sets of cylinders, each set consisting of two cylinders placed diametrically opposite each other, pistons arranged within the cylinders and provided with crossheads slotted at right angles to said pistonrods, a fixed pin arranged eccentric to the center of the disk to extend into the crosshead slots and provided with a longitudinal channel having lateral branches extended to the periphery of said pin, a loose block interposed between the pin and cross-head and provided with openings that come in and out of register with said lateral branches, and an oil-cup arranged to comm unicate with said longitudinal channel, substantially as set forth.

2. In a rotary engine, the combination of a disk fast on a drive-shaft and carrying cylin ders arranged in pairs, those in each pair being diametrically opposite each other, and provided with ports extended through the disk-hub, pistons arranged within the cylinders and having rods connected to a slotted cross-head movable on a fixed pin arranged eccentric to the center of the disk, a circular valve rotarily adjustable 011 the shaftad j acent to said disk-hub and provided with' inlet and outlet openings, said valve comprising a anged plate, an elastic packing-ring, and a face-plate rigidly united, a steanrchest provided with a eut-off for the inlet-opening of the valve, and an exhaust-port arranged with relation to the outlet-opening in said valve, substantially as set forth.

3. In a rotary engine, the combination of a disk fast on a drive-shaft and carrying cylinders arranged in pairs, those in each pair being diametrically opposite each other, and provided with ports extended through the disk-hub, pistons arranged within the cylinders and having rods connected to a slotted cross-head movable on a iixed pin arranged eccentric to the center of the disk, a circular valve rotarily adjustable on the shaft adjacent to the disk-hub and provided with an inletopening having leads extended therefrom in opposite directions, an outlet-opening in said valve, a steam-chest provided with a cut-oft for the inlet-opening of the valve, and an exhaust-port arranged with relation to the outlet-opening in said valve, substantially as set forth.

4t. ln a rotary engine, the combination of a disk tast on a drive-shaft and carrying cylinders arranged in pairs, those in each pair being diametrically opposite each other, and provided with ports extended through the disk-hub, pistons arranged within the cylinders and having rods connected to a slotted cross-head movable on a fixed pin arranged eccentric to the center of the disk, the upper section of the inner bearing for the shaft recessed to form a steam-chest having a central bridge, the lower section of said shaft-bearing provided with an exhaust-port, and a ro-` tary adjustable valve arranged on said shaft between said bearing and the diskshub, substantially as set fort-h.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of \Viseon sin, in the presence of two witnesses.

JULTUS M, FARMER.

Witnesses:

S. S. StroU'r, WILLIAM KLUG.

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